62
" One day,our love will conquer this dark cycle.That's worth everything to me."
Luce looked up and saw the love glowing in his eyes. He believed what he was saying. He didn't care if he suffered again and again; he'd forge on, losing her over and over,buoyed by the hope that one day this wouldn't be their end. He knew it was doomed,but he tried over and over again anyway,and he always would.
His commitment to her,to them, touched a part of her that she'd thought she'd given up on.
She still wanted to argue: This Daniel didn't know the challenges coming their way,the tears they would shed over the ages.He didn't know that she'd seen him in his moments of deepest desperation. What the pain of her deaths would do to him.
But then-
Luce knew.And that made all the difference in the world.
Daniel's lowest moments had terrified her, but things had changed. All along, she'd felt bound to their love, but now she knew how to protect it.Now she had seen their love from so many different angles. She understood it in a way she'd never thought she would.If Daniel ever faltered,she could raise him up.
She had learned how to do it from the best: from Daniel.Here she was,about to kill her soul, about to take away their love permanently, and five minutes alone with him brought her back to life.
Some people spent their entire lives looking for love like this.
Luce had had it all along.
The future held no starshot for her. Only Daniel.Her Daniel, the one she'd left in her parent's backyard in Thunderbolt.She had to go.
"Kiss me," she whispered.
He was seated on the steps with his knees parted just enough to let her body slide between them. She sank to her knees and faced him. Their foreheads were touching.The tips of their noses.
Daniel took her hands. He seemed to want to tell her something,but he could not find the words.
"Please," she begged,her lips edging toward his. "Kiss me and set me free. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
68
" You've circled the globe to find yourself in the Globe,milady." Bill sketched a little bow.
"The Globe Theatre?" Luce ducked as the woman in front of her discarded a gnawed-on turkey leg by tossing it over her shoulder. "You mean, like, Shakespeare?"
"Well, he claims to be retired. You know those artist types. So moody." Bill swooped down near the ground, tugging at the hem of her dress and humming to himself.
"Othello happened here," Luce said, taking a moment to let it all sink in. "The Tempest. Romeo and Juliet. We're practically standing in the center of all the greatest love stories ever written."
"Actually,you're standing in walnut shells."
"Why do you have to be so glib about everything? This is amazing!"
"Sorry,I didn't realize we'd need a moment of bardolatry." His words came out lisped because of the needle clipped between his jagged teeth. "Now stand still."
"Ouch!" Luce yelped as he jabbed sharply into her kneecap. "What are you doing?"
"Un-Anachronizing you.These folks'll pay good money for a freak show, but they're expecting it to stay onstage. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
69
" Luce closed her eyes,trying to remember exactly what he'd looked like. There were no words for it.It was just an incredible, joyous connection.
"I saw him."
"Who,Daniel? Yeah,I saw him,too. He was the guy who dropped the ax when it was his turn to do the chopping. Big mistake. Huge."
"No,I really saw him. As he truly is." Her voice shook. "He was so beautiful."
"Oh,that." Bill tossed his head, annoyed.
"I recognized him.I think I've seen him before."
"Doubt it." Bill coughed. "That was the first and last time you'll be able to see him like that.You saw him, and then you died.That's what happens when mortal flesh looks upon an angel's unbridled glory. Instant death. Burned away by the angel's beauty."
"No,it wasn't like that."
"You saw what happened to everyone else. Poof. Gone." Bill plopped down beside her and patted her knee. "Why do you think the Mayans started doing sacrifices by fire after that? A neighboring tribe discovered the charred remains and had to explain it somehow."
"Yes,they burst into flames right away. But I lasted longer-"
"A couple of extra seconds? When you were turned away? Congratulations."
"You're wrong.And I know I've seen that before."
"You've seen his wings before, maybe.But Daniel shedding his human guise and showing you his true form as an angel? Kills you every time."
"No." Luce shook her head. "You're saying he can never show me who he really is?"
Bill shrugged. "Not without vaporizing you and everyone around you.Why do you think Daniel's so cautious about kissing you all the time? His glory shines pretty damn bright when you two get hot and heavy."
Luce felt like she could barely hold herself up. "That's why I sometimes die when we kiss?"
"How 'bout a round of applause for the girl, folks?" Bill said snarkily.
"But what about all those other times, when I die before we kiss, before-"
"Before you even have a chance to see how toxic your relationship might become?"
"Shut up."
"Honestly,how many times do you have to see the same story line before you realize nothing is ever going to change?"
"Something has changed," Luce said. "That's why I'm on this journey, that's why I'm still alive. If I could just see him again-all of him-I know I could handle it."
"You don't get it." Bill's voice was rising. "You're talking about this whole thing in very mortal times." As he grew more agitated,spit flew from his lips. "This is the big time,and you clearly cannot handle it."
"Why are you so angry all of a sudden?"
"Because! Because." He paced the ledge, gnashing his teeth. "Listen to me: Daniel slipped up this once, he showed himself,but he never does that again.Never.He learned his lesson. Now you've learned one,too: Mortal flesh cannot gaze upon an angel's true form without dying. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
70
" Daniel could feel ir,like a layer of skin was lifting off his bones. His past self's body was slowly cleaving from his own.The venom of separation coursed through him,threading deep into the fibers of his wings.The pain was so raw it was nauseating, roiling deep inside him with great tidal swells. His vision clouded; ringing filled his ears.The starshot in his hand tumbled to the ground.Then,all at once, he felt a great shove and a sharp,cold breath of air.There was a long grunt and two thuds,and then-
His vision cleared.The ringing ceased. He felt lightness, simplicity.
Free.
Miles lay on the ground below him, chest heaving. The starshot in Daniel's hand disappeared. Daniel spun around to find a specter of his past self standing behind him,his skin gray and his body wraithlike,his eyes and teeth coal-black,the starshot grasped in his hand. His profile wobbled in the hot wind,like the picture on a shorted-out television.
"I'm sorry," Daniel said,reaching forward and clutching his past self at the base of his wings.When Daniel lifted the shadow of himself off the ground, his body felt scant and insufficient.His fingers found the graying portal of the Announcer through which both Daniels had traveled just before it fell apart. "Your day will come," he said.
Then he pitched his past self back into the Announcer.
He watched the void fading in the hot sun. The body made a drawn-out whistling sound as it tumbled into time, as if it were falling off a cliff. The Announcer split into infinitesimal traces,and was gone. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
72
" Your past self's family was rich. Filthy rich.You'll see when you meet her.She goes by Lucinda and thinks your nickname is an absolute abomination, by the way." Bill pinched his nose and lifted it hight in the air,giving a pretty laughable imitation of a snob. "She's rich, yes,but you, my dear, are a time-traveling intruder who knows not the ways of this high society. So unless you want to stick out like a Manchester seamstress and get shown the door before you even get to have a chat with Lucinda, you need to go undercover. You're a scullery maid. Serving girl. Chamber-bot changer. It's really up to you.Don't worry,I'll stay out of your way.I can disappear in the blink of an eye. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
74
" This is not what I had in mind," she muttered to Bill,who was hovering,always,on the rim of the cupboard next to her washtub. She still wasn't used to being the only one in the kitchen who could see him. It made her nervous every time he hovered over other members of the staff,making dirty jokes that only Luce could hear and no one-besides Bill-ever laughed at.
"You children of the millenium have absolutely no work ethic," he said. "Keep your voice down,by the way."
Luce unclenched her jaw. "If scrubbing this disgusting soup tureen had anything to do with understanding my past, my work ethic would make your head spin. But this is pointless." She waved a cast iron skillet in Bill's face.Its handle was slick with pork grease. "Not to mention nauseating. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
76
" So I'll be careful-"
"There is no careful. You are a bull in the china shop of love.You'll have no way of knowing what you've broken or how precious it may be.Any change you enact is not going to be obvious. There will be no great sign reading IF YOU VEER RIGHT,YOU SHALL BE A PRINCESS, VERSUS IF YOU VEER LEFT,YOU'LL REMAIN A SCULLERY MAID FOREVER."
"Come on,Roland,don't you think I have slightly loftier goals than ending up a princess?" Luce said sharply.
"I could venture a guess that there is a curse you want to put an end to?"
Luce blinked at him,feeling stupid.
"Right,then,best of luck!" Roland laughed brightly. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
78
" As soon as Roland was gone,the cupboard door swung open, banging the back of her leg.Bill popped out,gasping for air loudly as if he'd been holding his breath the whole time.
"I could wring your neck right now!" he said,his chest heaving.
"I don't know why you're all out of breath. It's not like you even breathe."
"It's for effect! All the trouble I go through to camoflage you here and you go and out yourself to the first guy who walks the through the door."
Luce rolled her eyes. "Roland's not going to make a big deal out of seeing me here.He's cool."
"Oh,he's so cool," Bill said. "He's so smart. If he's so great,why didn't he tell you what I know about not keeping one's distance from one's past? About getting"-he paused dramatically, widening his stone eyes-"inside?"
Now she leaned down toward him. "What are you talking about?"
He crossed his arms over his chest and wagged his stone tongue. "I'm not telling."
"Bill!" Luce pleaded.
"Not yet, anyway.First let's see how you do tonight. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
79
" The footsteps behind her stopped. A warm brush of fingertips traveled up her arms as a firm chest pressed against her back. Daniel. She could sense his glow without even turning. She closed her eyes. His arms wrapped around her waist and his soft lips swept across her neck, stopping just below her ear.
"I found you," he whispered.
She turned slowly in his arms. The sight of him took her breath away. He was still her Daniel, of course, but his skin was the color of rich hot chocolate,and his wavy black hair was cropped very short. He wore only a short linen loincloth,leather sandals, and a silver choker around his neck. His deep-set violet eyes swept over her, happy.
He and Layla were deeply in love.
She rested her cheek on his chest and counted the beats of his heart. Would this be the last time she did this,the last time he held her against his heart? She was about to do the right thing-the good thing for Daniel. But still it pained her to think about it. She loved him! If this journey had taught her anything, it was how much she truly loved Daniel Grigori. It hardly seemed fair that she was forced to make this decision.
Yet here she was.
In ancient Egypt.
With Daniel. For the very last time. She was about to set him free. "
― Lauren Kate , Passion (Fallen, #3)
